Table 2.
Underlying causes of death and crude mortality rates, overall and by ever GC use status
| All subjects | Never GC useb | Ever GC use | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Events (%) | Mortality ratea | Events (%) | Mortality ratea | Events (%) | Mortality ratea | |
| 1 All-causes | 2996 | 27.0 (26.0–28.0) | 1034 | 15.5 (14.6–16.5) | 1962 | 44.0 (42.1–46.0) |
| 2 Cardiovascular diseases | 1131 (100) | 10.2 (9.60–10.8) | 428 (100) | 6.40 (5.84–7.07) | 703 (100) | 15.8 (14.7–17.0) |
| Ischemic heart diseases | 581 (51.4) | 5.23 (4.82–5.67) | 207 (48.4) | 3.11 (2.61–3.37) | 374 (53.2) | 8.39 (7.59–9.29) |
| Cerebrovascular diseases | 247 (21.8) | 2.22 (1.96–2.52) | 121 (28.3) | 1.82 (1.52–2.17) | 126 (17.9) | 2.83 (2.37–3.37) |
| Others | 303 (26.8) | 2.73 (2.44–3.05) | 100 (23.3) | 1.50 (1.24–1.83) | 203 (28.9) | 4.56 (3.97–5.23) |
| 3 Neoplasms | 639 (100) | 5.75 (5.32–6.22) | 191 (100) | 2.87 (2.49–3.31) | 448 (100) | 10.1 (9.17–11.0) |
| Respiratory neoplasm | 208 (32.6) | 1.87 (1.63–2.14) | 41 (21.5) | 0.62 (0.45–0.84) | 167 (37.3) | 3.75 (3.22–4.36) |
| Digestive neoplasm | 135 (21.1) | 1.22 (1.03–1.44) | 46 (24.1) | 0.69 (0.52–0.92) | 89 (19.9) | 2.00 (1.62–2.46) |
| Others | 296 (46.3) | 2.66 (2.38–2.99) | 104 (54.4) | 1.56 (1.29–1.89) | 192 (42.8) | 4.31 (3.74–4.97) |
| 4 Respiratory diseases | 509 (100) | 4.58 (4.20–5.00) | 132 (100) | 1.98 (1.67–2.35) | 377 (100) | 8.46 (7.65–9.36) |
| Respiratory infection | 216 (42.4) | 1.94 (1.70–2.22) | 80 (60.6) | 1.20 (0.97–1.50) | 136 (36.1) | 3.05 (2.58–3.61) |
| Lower respiratory diseases | 205 (40.3) | 1.85 (1.61–2.12) | 32 (24.2) | 0.48 (0.34–0.68) | 173 (45.9) | 3.88 (3.35–4.51) |
| Others | 88 (17.3) | 0.79 (0.64–0.98) | 20 (15.2) | 0.30 (0.19–0.47) | 68 (18.0) | 1.53 (1.20–1.94) |
| 5 Others causes of death | 717 (100) | 6.45 (6.00–6.94) | 283 (100) | 4.25 (3.78–4.77) | 434 (100) | 9.74 (8.87–10.7) |
| Musculoskeletal diseases | 201 (28.0) | 1.81 (1.58–2.08) | 67 (23.7) | 1.00 (0.79–1.28) | 134 (30.9) | 3.01 (2.54–3.56) |
| Digestive diseases | 158 (22.0) | 1.42 (1.22–1.66) | 68 (24.0) | 1.02 (0.81–1.29) | 90 (20.7) | 1.64 (1.79–2.48) |
| Genitourinary diseases | 75 (10.5) | 0.68 (0.54–0.85) | 22 (7.8) | 0.33 (0.22–0.50) | 53 (12.2) | 1.19 (0.91–1.56) |
| Injury, poisoning and external causes | 102 (14.2) | 0.92 (0.76–1.11) | 47 (16.6) | 0.71 (0.53–0.93) | 55 (12.7) | 1.23 (0.95–1.61) |
| Others | 181 (25.3) | 1.63 (1.41–1.88) | 79 (27.9) | 1.19 (0.95–1.48) | 102 (23.5) | 2.29 (1.89–2.78) |
aMortality rates per 1000 patient-years
bPatients who had not yet used GCs could initially contribute person time to the ‘never GC use’ group, and then switch to ‘ever GC use’ person time on receipt of their first GC prescription